What Can I Expect On A Rally Driving Experience? - News

KEY POINTS

• A rally driving experience offers the chance to drive rally-spec cars from marques including Mitsubishi, Ford and Subaru
• You will learn a whole new set of driving skills, out on genuine rally stages at UK wide venues
• Suitable for novices or rally enthusiasts, rally driving packages can be booked through dates or purchase of open gift vouchers with Trackdays

Not all the driving experiences we offer are the same here on Trackdays - and that is especially true of our Rally Driving Experiences.

Combining full throttle, high-octane action with the dirt and dust of the rally stage, this is the opportunity to try something that is a break from the norm of traditional track driving in supercars or racing cars.

In this blog, we'll explore what you can expect when you go on one of our exciting rally driving packages, and just why they should be your choice for your next booking with us…

So, What Is A Rally Driving Experience?

Rally driving takes place on what is known as a rally stage. Unlike normal tarmac or concrete tracks used on race circuits, the surface of the rally stage is loose. This can be any loose material, but the most common ones you'll find are dirt, gravel or even mud.

And the main difference is that the cars used on these experiences are built and customised to rally specifications, so that it can more easily handle the driving style and conditions, which is a focus on car control, drifting and navigating slides through corners at speed.

Most rally stages at our venues that have them are purpose built, and they're designed to closely emulate real world motorsport conditions. So if you've ever watched anything like the World Rally Championship, or other national and international competitions, this is the closest you can get to trying this style of driving out.

What Cars Are Used On Rally Driving Experiences?

Many of the leading - and in some cases, championship winning - models, or variations on these, are used on our rally driving packages. 

This includes the likes of the Subaru Impreza WRX STi (an iteration of which was famously driven by Colin McRae in the World Rally Championship, which secured his historic victory in the 1995 season), the Mitsubishi Evolution X and the Ford Escort RS2000.

These cars are all good examples of what is known as an AWD (all-wheel-drive), and which lend themselves quite well to rally driving because they are very adaptable to wet or dry driving conditions, and their performance is more focused on acceleration and maintaining speed through corners.

How Does A Typical Rally Driving Experience Run?

Broadly speaking, there are many elements of a rally driving experience which are much the same - you'll head to the venue and following your welcome and sign on, you'll meet with the expert rally instructors who'll be driving with you and offering their guidance and tips throughout.

They'll also go through a full safety briefing with you so you know what to expect before you head onto the rally stage. Then, depending on your own level of expertise in rally driving, you could be doing anything from learning basic rally driving skills, to driving under competition conditions.

The day will sometimes end with a debrief on how you've done - what you did well, and what you can improve on for next time - and in the case of some packages, there may even be something like a driving certificate you can take home as a lasting memento of your experience.

What Are The Best Rally Driving Experiences I Can Book?

Our best picks for our Rally Driving vouchers have been chosen to accommodate all levels of experience, from total beginners to those with a more advanced or intermediate level of skills and knowledge - and to suit all budgets.

1. Double Rally Car Driving Experience Special (from £69, 16 locations nationwide) - for less than £100, this exciting package will get you behind the wheel of both of your choice of two rally spec cars, from the Ford Focus Mk2 Rally to the Mitsubishi Evo X, for 3 miles each. A perfect taster package for those wanting to try rally driving out.
2. Rally Introduction Driving Experience (from £99, Langley Park) - rally newcomers based in or near Essex or Cambridgeshire will do well to book on for this session at this rally venue near Saffron Walden, which is tailored with beginners in mind, with the chance to drive rally spec cars from Ford and Suzuki, as well as receiving a high speed rally passenger ride and a certificate of driving to take home too.
3. Subaru Solo Half Day Driving Experience (from £595, Silverstone Rally School) - located at a rally school near the home of British motorsport, this more advanced half day package combines 30 minutes of classroom instruction with 150 minutes of rally driving time, where you'll be mastering power slides, handbrake turns and pendulum slides under the guidance of qualified rally instructors.
4. Dakar Rally Jump Experience (from £124, Bovingdon Airfield) - our final selection is the most daring rally package we offer. The Dakar Rally spec Yamaha is the only rally vehicle of its kind in our fleet that is built in such a way that it can easily get airborne - ideal for this experience, as you'll be holding your nerve and attempting to take on a jump from the Launch Pad on the Rally X stage.

Explore these and many more fantastic options today on our Rally Driving Experiences page, where you can book directly onto dates from our regularly updated Rally Events Calendar or purchase one of our open Gift Vouchers to redeem and use towards the rally driving package of your choice!